For the second time this year I was able to go see the girls from Kittie, and I was also able to see a band that I have been dying to see for a long time, Silent Civilian.

It had been a month since I had last been out to a show at Jaxx, so I was itching to get out there to see Silent Civilian. They are a band that has gotten much airplay on Braingell, and from the videos I have seen I was expecting one hell of a show. The band was strong in their material and played all of their songs without any apparent errors. The biggest difference I noticed from their CD was that the vocals were much more powerful in person. Even the "singy" parts were violent. The vocals stayed in tune through the whole set and the vocalist had a commanding presence, which reared it's head most when the crowd wouldn't sing with him, which obviously pissed him off. The bass player, who spent the whole show begging for free drinks, was the nut of the band who bashed and flailed more than any of the other members. Thankfully he got his free beers from someone in the crowd near the last song. The singer played guitar with another dude, and they were a great duo which traded leads, played dual solos, and fit it all together nicely. I can't say I noticed the drummer, but I guess that's okay because lots of times when you notice a drummer, it is because he screwed up, right? The crowd of about 300 maintained a nasty pit through most of the SC set, which wasn't so nasty that people weren't getting picked up off the floor. Unfortunately at the end of the set, some dude got his face completely bashed to a pulp in front of me (I hope you are okay dude), but as always within 5 seconds Jaxx security was all over the assailant. Once the set ended I had liked SC, but I didn't love them like I had thought I would. I was expecting a stand out band, but I got a band that was better than average. 7 out of 10.

The next group for the evening was called It Dies Today from Buffalo. When they took the stage, I was instantly worried because these dudes had some damn silly haircuts that screamed emo. The other thing that had me concerned was that 95% of the kids at the front of the stage were high school females, which I took as another sign of mallcore. BUT! To my surprise, these dudes were the best band of the night! While the music from time to time would sound a bit "poppish", the majority of it was very technical and brutal. They were a blast to watch because they wouldn't stand still. They bounced, thrashed, and whirled through the entire set. The few people that made up the pit engaged in the safer mosh version that consists of choreographed moves and for the most part weren't banging on eachother. Hell, the band even had a videographer that was stage diving with his camera in hand. I bet that video is cool as shit to watch! Because this band was so much fun to watch, I will admit that I didn't spend a lot of time listening to each band member to check on the skills, so to speak. All I knew was that I liked seeing them. I rate 'em 8 out of 10.

Last up was Kittie. I saw them back in February and for the most part, they were pretty much the same as they were then. If you want to see what I wrote for that review feel free to CLICK HERE . There were a few differences this time around. For one, their bass player is supposedly very sick and can't tour, so they got the dude from Thine Eyes Bleed. He made the show a little more fun because the girls were ragging on him with stuff like telling him to put his wig back on and proclaiming that he had the biggest dick in the band. I think this time around, Kittie was a lot more "chill". They were having fun. The lead guitarist was much improved in her presence and really seemed at home on the stage. The vocals were a lot stronger this time around too. The show really felt more like a gathering of friends as opposed to a concert, which made it relaxed. Like last time, I still rate Kittie as 7 out of 10.

In my next report I hope to give you the scoop on the Kamelot show on 8/17 ! Stay tuned.

Go to the BGR gallery (CLICK HERE) and check out my pics from last night's the show.

BE SURE to check out our friends at JAXX NIGHTCLUB! www.jaxxroxx.com

If you would like to attend a Jaxx show please let me know. I might be able to drag you along with me.

Comments Questions or Concerns? Hit me up! berube@braingell.com

And oh yeah...

Peace and Metal Grease!

berube